Effect of Grid Resolution and Terrain Characteristics on Data from DTM

Previous work in digital terrain modeling (DTM) has shown that if regular gridded-data sets are used in the construction of the model, both the resolution of the gridded-data set and the characteristics of the terrain being modeled have an effect on the accuracy of digital terrain models. The main objective of this study is to test the hypothesis that both the resolution of the gridded-data set and the characteristics of the terrain being modeled have an effect on the accuracy of any derived data. To test this hypothesis, the terrain was classified in terms of its roughness. Various forms of data were derived from the terrain model; these include volumes, surface area, contours, and cross sections. The accuracy for each of these quantities was calculated by comparing them with values obtained from a control model. This research concluded that by both increasing the resolution of the regular gridded-data sets and varying the characeristics of the terrain, the accuracy of any derived data is affected.